Main menu

Post navigation

Israel new European Champion in Senior Chess

At the 15th European Senior Chess Championship in Dresden (Germany) the team from Israel came off first. At only third highest average Elo-rating, the team prevailed over the two favorites from Russia and Belarus.

Russia and Belarus behind

With the average Elo of 2385 Israel was able to win seven matches and draw two duels at the European Championship in Dresden. Overall, Israel obtained a score of 16:2 points and therefore beat the favorite teams from Belarus at 15:3 points (6 wins, 3 ties) and Russia with 14:4 points (6 wins, 2 ties, 1 defeat). With this performance the Byelorussian and Russian teams, that started with the highest Elo-ratings at the tournament of 2427 and 2420, lie behind this year’s championship winner from Israel. In the women’s division, the Russian team prevailed over Germany as predicted.

Norresundby surprises with 4th rank at Senior Chess Championship

The German men’s team A ended the 15th European Senior Chess Championship on their home turf on 8th rank only with 12:6 points and 21.0 board-points. Due to a favorable seeding list position in 4th place and an average Elo of 2345 points, a few German chess fans even hoped for a triumph of their seniors in Dresden. Instead, the team from Norresundby caused a big stir: At an Elo-rating of 2160 and only 22nd position in seeding lists, the Scandinavians scored five victories, three ties, and only one defeat. Therefore, Norresundby took 4th rank in overall standings, followed by St. Petersburg, Hessen 1, and Italy. Only then, Germany A joins the list, having obtained five victories, but also two ties and two defeats.

Israel’s grandmasters triumph over Russian grandmasters

Overall, 71 team from 16 nations were present at the 15th European Senior Chess Championship in Germany. Among them were several grandmasters, whereby the Byelorussian team already had two of them – Viacheslav Dydyshko (Elo 2512) and Viktor Kupreichik (Elo 2443). Still, their participation did not lead to the great success. Israel also had two grandmasters lining up, particularly concerning Leonid Gofshtein, who in the end helped triumph over Belarus and Russia. With three grandmasters, the Russian team only earned 3rd place at the event. A direct duel between Israel and Russia ended in 2:2 tie, while Belarus scored 2.5:1.5 points against Russia. But, the Byelorussians had to deal with a 2:2 against Israel and another against Sweden. The Byelorussian and Russian teams each only accomplished a score of 2:2 in duels against the German team from Hessen.